Hoboken Dog License Reform Needed!

Annual dog licenses in Hoboken are NOT healthy!

No? I didn’t think so. Nor is your license based on anything that can cause health issues for you.

However, the dog licenses in Hoboken, and likely most other cities in America – are based on YEAR. This poses a MASSIVE health issue for your dog. Let me explain…

Hoboken bases dog licenses on rabies vaccinations: BIG problem

While I agree that Rabies is a serious issue and has to be dealt with responsibly, Hoboken’s dog licensing scheme is impractical and quite possibly very detrimental to your canine’s health.

Here’s the deal: In order to obtain a proper license for your dog – the city will only issue one if your dog has “proper” Rabies coverage THROUGH the entire calendar year. Rabies vaccinations typically last for three years. Sounds normal and harmless on paper, but what if your dog’s Rabies shot expires in October, November or December?

The problem here is that let’s say you’re in year three of your current Rabies vaccination – you CANNOT get a dog license in Hoboken if your dog is only covered for 9, 10, 11, or partial 12 months of that calendar year. That means you need to OVER-VACCINATE your pooch in order to get the license from the city. Why is this bad?

Over vaccination of dogs can cause serious health issues

Well, I ran into a serious health scare with Hoboken411 Mascot Oscar earlier this year. Because his vaccination didn’t expire until the end of October – but he was unlicensed in Hoboken, it required that I gave him a PREMATURE Rabies shot in order to obtain the proper “licensing” (i.e., hidden tax) for him. He had a shot almost a year before it was necessary.

What happened next was atrocious. My dog lost control of his face, mouth, jaw.

I’ll spare you the intricate details of our uncertainty – but it turned out that the unnecessary early vaccination caused an auto-immune reaction that resulted in Trigeminal Neuritis in Oscar. He could not drink or eat without assistance for weeks. Our doctors thought it might have been brain cancer, and thousands of dollars in tests were required to reach the eventual diagnosis.

Oscar is doing much better now, but it was scary and totally avoidable.

Hoboken reform: Make dog licenses expire MONTH & YEAR!

Realizing that over-vaccination is bad for ALL breeds, we believe that the Hoboken Dog Ordinance for licensing ABSOLUTELY needs an overhaul. At the very least, revise the law (in the name of healthy pooches) so that the licenses are NOT annual calendar year, but MONTH AND YEAR! This allows residents who become new pet owners to license their animal any month of the year, and not risk their “best friend’s” health with over-vaccination.

There is no reason why the city shouldn’t make this change ASAP. They cannot blame “costs” or “administration,” because those tags cost pennies, and all it takes is a little procedural change to improve the system in the name of healthy (and properly licensed) Hoboken doggies.

4 Responses to ** Hoboken Dog License Reform Needed! **

1.

briank May 4th, 2012 |

I argued this exact point many years ago and was told that I could get a letter from my vet. So every single dog owner in town needs to get a letter from their vet unless they are lucky enough to coincidentally have their dog vaccinated every January. It is preposterous. Now I don’t get him licensed. I refuse to give him unnecessary shots. Just stay away from the city worker with the limp and black and white speckled goatee who hangs out in Church Square Park. His sole job is to harass dog owners and check for licenses. Our tax dollars well spent (won’t even get into the number of complaints of harassment ad physical intimidation of women by this guy).